Nice Jewish girls get naughty

What exactly is a gefilte fish? What’s it really like to JDate? Curious Jews (and gentiles) want to know. And they can find out at this weekend’s “Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad” shows at Tangier restaurant in Los Feliz. The comedy, music, spoken-word and burlesque numbers that make up this unorthodox Judaic revue depict “everything you wish was going on at Pico and Robertson,” said graphic designer and original Nice Jewish Girl Gone Bad, Susannah Perlman.

And then some. In addition to a dance number set to a musical version of Barbra Streisand’s Madison Square Garden tirade, there will be performances from “Wedding Crashers” band Klezmer Juice and a Hasidic striptease.

Like a “Girls Gone Wild” episode for the Yiddish set, “NJGGB” began as an event for the Jewish magazine Heeb, but it’s since developed a life of its own, with shows around the country. The only other time the troupe performed in L.A. was two years ago, and all the performers were from New York. But there are so many Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad that, for this weekend’s shows, the troupe is a rotating cast of 30 performers. Only some are from New York; the rest live in Southern California, including spoken-word artist Vanessa Hidary and comedians Cynthia Levin, Jessi Klein and Dana Eagle.

“The show’s a little different,” said Perlman, 35. “Something people don’t really expect. It has these Jewish themes, but it has a risque raunchiness to it. Jewish girls taking off their clothes. At how many shows does that happen on a regular basis?”

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-- Susan Carpenter

“Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad,” Tangier Restaurant, 2138 Hillhurst Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday. $15. (323) 666-8666.

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